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Restaurant of the Week: Farrell’s

Farrell’s means a lot to many longtime Inland Valley residents who marked birthdays and other occasions at the Montclair Plaza ice cream parlor, which operated through the 1970s and into the mid-1980s before folding like other locations after a disastrous buyout. Now the chain is back, with SoCal restaurants in Rancho Cucamonga, Brea, Mission Viejo and Santa Clarita, with more in the works. Here’s its website.

Me, I was a Farrell’s newbie when I showed up for lunch recently with two Farrell’s fans, my friends Dave and Rose Linck of Rancho Cucamonga. They grew up on the place and had already been to the Rancho location twice, once for Rose’s birthday. (She wasn’t asked to stand on a chair.)

In fact, Rose wrote several letters in recent years to Farrell’s suggesting they take over the closed Romano’s Macaroni Grill, advice that Farrell’s took. They should give her free ice cream for life or something.

The restaurant has been completely made over. After a short wait even at 1 p.m. for a table, we were seated. We were among the few adults not accompanied by children. It’s a festive atmosphere, the Chuck E Cheese of ice cream. Every few minutes a siren would blare and employees, dressed in straw boaters and vests, would gather around a table and sing happy birthday while the child stood on a chair. They’ve revived all the old traditions, including the Zoo and the Pig Trough ice cream platters.

I got a half BLT with chicken noodle soup and fries ($7.79), Rose had chicken strips known as Cock-a-Doodle Dippers ($8) and Dave had the Gastronomicaldelicatessenepicurean’s Delight (whew!), a cold cut combo with fries ($10.59).

Surprisingly, this was all pretty good. My BLT, for example, used a better grade of bacon than you’ll find almost anywhere else and the soup tasted fresh. The others were impressed by their meals too.

For dessert, we each got hot fudge or hot butterscotch sundaes, the single-scoop versions available if you get a meal ($3.29), and it was delicious, as you’d hope. Including the $2.79 vanilla Coke I got from the soda fountain, my tab was $17, a couple of bucks more than I’d have preferred, but fine given the quality of the food and the attentiveness of the service.

Would I go back, though? Maybe, but it’s hard to imagine when I would. (Other than if any friends choose Farrell’s for their own birthday, which one is threatening to do.) I don’t think I would go even for my own birthday (when you get a free sundae), although I reserve the right to change my mind.

It’s evidently a good facsimile of the old Farrell’s, a parent would probably not be disappointed by the food and a kid would probably love it. But unless you’re a retired fireman who misses the sound of a siren going off every few minutes, or deaf, this is not a place many adults could endure. Nostalgists, of course, will want to try it, and should.

I was thrilled to have won seats to a pre-grand opening to take my grandaughter. We had a wonderful time and although this was their “warm up” period they did quite well.

I’m very disappointed to hear that someone had booked a child’s birthday party for this weekend only to have called yesterday to confirm everything and being told “sorry we’re not going to do group parties until maybe Feb!” OMG do they know how much planning it takes to get a kids party organized.

I was going to book a party for my granddaughter but now I won’t. They really need to get their act together, this is really poor business practice. You can check all this out on their FB page for yourself.

Andy

OMG… you were right about being a place “this is not a place many adults could endure.” We stopped by on Sat around 9:45 pm. The wait was 1.5 hours for a table. So we got take out. During the wait for the takeout, I had to endure 10 mins of annoying whistle blowing, drum pounding, across the room shouting. I couldn’t wait to leave. 5 blocks later, we were in the peace and quiet of our home taking in dessert. This place is absolutely horrible. However, I will attempt to sabotage my coworker in Alta Loma and suggest he take his kids there for a grand ole time.

[I’m sure he’ll thank you for it (or not). — DA]

Andy

I reminded my coworker again about taking his kids to Farrels and even told him they serve adult food. He told me he almost went last night and was thinking of calling me. He put it on his calendar to take his kids to Farrels on Weds. On Thurs, he told me his wife had blocked him from going there because of the excessive noise and drum banging. The wife had not gone there before but she had heard enough of the noise and commotion to put it on the banned list. Sabotage failed.

About this blog

A roundup of news, history, food, travel and cultural items from around the Inland Valley.

About this blogger

A journalist for nearly 30 years, David Allen has been chronicling the Inland Valley for the Daily Bulletin since 1997 and blogging since 2007. His first book, "Pomona A to Z," was published in 2014.
E-mail David here. Read recent columns here.